


Come Dine with Me

by Papillon87



Series: Dorm Diaries [6]
Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: And wants to be kissed, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Dorms, M/M, Minhyuk is making a packed lunch for Eunwoo, Pining, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26775193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Papillon87/pseuds/Papillon87
Summary: Eunwoo throws him his signature bashful smile. ‘Thank you. Do you want to go and grab something to eat tomorrow night? I know I'm finishing earlier; I don’t have that many scenes lined up.’Minhyuk’s palms start sweating. ‘Cool. Yeah, let’s do that. Cool.’He clamps his mouth shut, aware of his rambling.‘Great,’ Eunwoo smiles one more time, hand on the doorknob. ‘I feel like we haven’t talked to each other for ages. It will be great. See you later, Hyuk.’'Wait!'
Relationships: Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo/Moon Bin, Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo/Park Minhyuk | Rocky
Series: Dorm Diaries [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1197385
Comments: 19
Kudos: 52





	Come Dine with Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moonlitdrive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlitdrive/gifts).



> Happy birthday to my wonderful, wonderful friend <333

Minhyuk likes silence.

Not all kinds of silence, of course. There are many kinds when it comes to the lack of noise and Minhyuk doesn’t like all of them.

He definitely doesn’t like the awkward silence that follows some of his unfortunate announcements at events – he somehow never says the right thing when mixing with new people – nor the tense one in the dorm when Eunwoo is ignoring Bin after an argument and Bin is shuffling around like a kicked puppy, the air around them thickening with misery.

Minhyuk likes the serene kind though, when he puts on his noise-cancelling headphones without music or, like now, when he sits alone in the kitchen, dawn tingeing the light around him with a soft, greyish glow.

He can hear himself think then; he can feel himself _feel_.

‘Hey, Hyukkie?’

Eunwoo emerges from the bedroom, eyes half-shut and an imprint of his pillow visible on his right cheek. ‘You haven’t been to bed at all?’

‘Just got caught up in something.’

Minhyuk ducks his head, trying not to stare too much at Eunwoo’s face, flushed pink from sleep, at his crumpled t-shirt – he can almost feel the heat of Eunwoo’s body radiating through the thin fabric – and he shivers suddenly with cold, cold that comes from sitting in an empty kitchen all night, nobody to hug him and keep him warm.

Eunwoo arches his eyebrows with an impish smile that makes Minhyuk’s stomach flip. ‘Is it your song perhaps?’

‘Maybe,’ he hurriedly closes the lid on his laptop and gets up. The last thing he wants to do is for Eunwoo looking at his unfinished lyrics.

Some things are better left unread, especially by Eunwoo.

He watches his hyung filling the kettle and getting a jar of instant coffee, the movements slow, on autopilot, the way people move at five o’clock in the morning, after barely any sleep at all.

‘What time do you need to leave?’

Eunwoo looks up from his coffee mug, bleary-eyed. ‘The cab will be here in half an hour.’

‘You’d better hurry up then.’

Eunwoo takes one more sip and places the mug on the counter. ‘Yeah, I should.’

Minhyuk watches him heading for the bathroom, absentmindedly swiping his eyes over the broad lines of Eunwoo’s back. When he catches himself staring at his ass for far longer than necessary, he quickly averts his eyes.

At this ungodly hour, the only sound in the dorm is the sound of water running in the shower and Minhyuk’s slippers slapping quietly on the tiles as he gets up.

On impulse, he takes out a couple of plastic containers from the top cupboard.

The fridge is not overflowing with fresh ingredients but Minhyuk trust his improvisation skills. The long years as a trainee have taught him that a nice lunch can be prepared almost out of anything.

By the time Eunwoo gets out of the shower he has it all prepared, the matching boxes stacked nicely on top each other and ready to go.

‘Hyung?’

His palms are sweaty all of a sudden.

‘Yes, Hyukkie?’ Eunwoo is drying his hair with a towel, smiling, but Minhyuk can see his mind is already on set. The script is lying on top of his bag near the door, ready for Eunwoo to go through his lines in the cab.

The bravado deserts at the very last moment. ‘Nah, nothing. Make sure you drink enough during the day, ok?’

Eunwoo laughs softly, ‘Yeah, I will,’ and slings the towel over his shoulder.

Minhyuk clutches the containers and watches him disappear in the bedroom. Through the open door, Bin’s sleeping shape on the bed is half-hidden in the shadows, almost blurry and indistinctive.

Eunwoo stops by the bed and hovers a little uncertainly. His hand moves on autopilot to touch Bin’s shoulder but he backtracks at the very last moment, merely leaning down and pressing a soft kiss into Bin’s hair.

Something about the gesture makes Minhyuk’s heart ache. Bin and Eunwoo have barely seen each other for weeks now. The subunit’s promotions and Eunwoo's filming schedules are gruelling; Minhyuk can imagine that sleep – or anything beyond that - behind the closed door of Eunwoo’s bedroom is hard to come by right now.

Minhyuk has been watching Eunwoo dragging his feet at the end of each day, his faces pale and exhausted, and although Minhyuk is happy for him, his heart squeezes every time Eunwoo stands in front of him, looking drained of the very last drop of energy he has left.

Bin and Sanha, on the other hand, ride high on adrenalin. Having achieved their first win right at the beginning of their promotions, they seem to be flying through the days, their feet almost not touching the ground.

Minhyuk watches Eunwoo watching Bin and Sanha and wonders if he is as genuinely happy for them as he seems. For the first time in a long time, the face of their group is not at the forefront of attention; there has been Myungjun’s musical and his own dance covers, now it’s Bin's and Sanha’s time to shine – and they are dazzling.

Minhyuk wonders if there is a tinge of envy hidden in Eunwoo’s unwavering support for his boyfriend, if there is a trace of bitterness when thinking of fans drooling at the sight of Ddankong looking scorching hot in their cropped tops and leather pants and knowing he would never be able to form a subunit with Bin, not one like this, not one that would set the stage on fire.

Eunwoo is smart. He knows his own limitations and they talked about it with Minhyuk many times when small hours found them both collapsed on the floor of their practice room, Eunwoo exhausted but happy that he mastered a particularly difficult part in the new choreography, and Minhyuk just – happy.

Happy to have Eunwoo for himself once in a while.

He now watches his hyung kissing Bin’s head one more time and tiptoeing out of the room, heading for the front door.

The containers are neatly stacked up on the kitchen counter and Minhyuk grabs them and runs after him.

He thrusts them into Eunwoo’s hands in the hallway. ‘Here. So you don’t go hungry today.’

‘Oh.’

Eunwoo stops for a moment, staring at the food. When he looks up, his face has lit up in a soft smile.

Thank you,’ he says slowly. ‘You didn’t… You didn’t need to. You’re the best, Minhyukkie.’

‘It’s ok,’ Minhyuk forces himself to shrug lightly. ‘I know you. You don’t eat the whole day, then stuff yourself at 2am when you get home. That’s not healthy, hyung.’

‘I know,’ Eunwoo throws him his signature bashful smile - Minhyuk’s stomach does a somersault at the sight – and stuffs the colourful plastic boxes in his bag. ‘Thank you. Do you want to go and grab something to eat tomorrow night? I know I'm finishing earlier; I don’t have that many scenes lined up.’

Minhyuk’s palms start sweating. ‘Cool. Yeah, let’s do that. Cool.’

He clamps his mouth shut, aware of his rambling.

‘Great,’ Eunwoo smiles one more time, hand on the doorknob. ‘I feel like we haven’t talked to each other for ages. It will be great. See you later, Hyuk.’

He turns to leave.

‘Wait!’

Minhyuk can feel the rush of blood in his face. ‘You’ve forgotten something.’

‘Huh?’

Eunwoo pats his pockets for his phone and checks that the script is in the front pocket of his bag. ‘I think I’m good.’

‘The kiss.’

‘Huh?’

Minhyuk’s throat goes dry but he knows he has just reached the point of no return.

Today is the first day ever when Bin hasn’t dragged himself out of bed to give Eunwoo a kiss before he leaves. On other days, it’s a familiar sight; Binu seeing each other off at the door in the morning, if one of them – mostly Eunwoo - has individual schedules. Other members used to joke about it at first - at the sight of Bin rubbing his eyes like a sleepy puppy while Eunwoo was putting his shoes on, waiting to kiss him goodbye, then heading straight back to bed. With time, the jokes withered away and the routine became just that, a routine for the others to witness, something in the background that one sees but doesn’t take in anymore, part of the furniture.

Sometimes, one only notices things again when they are not there.

Minhyuk was the only one who saw Eunwoo’s face in his bedroom this morning, something small and sad and lonesome flashing across his features when he kissed Bin’s hair and left him sleeping.

If Bin is not here to make the effort – and I’m the only one around, so Minhyuk reasons – why should Eunwoo go into the new day sad?

He clears his throat, ‘You know, Binnie-hyung always gives you a kiss goodbye.’

Eunwoo’s brows furrow in confusion.

Now that it’s out in the open, Minhyuk feels like a first class fool. ‘I mean, Binnie-hyung always gives you a kiss for good luck before you leave - so that the filming goes well, you know – and now that he is asleep –‘

Eunwoo's face grows a fraction more cautious and Minhyuk gulps, the nerves getting the better of him. ‘It’s not like that! Just – Just for luck, you know. When Binnie-hyung is not awake.’

There is a heartbeat of a pause when they both stare at each other.

‘I just-‘ Minhyuk squirms inwardly, wishing that he had kept his stupid mouth shut. ‘I just wanted you to have a good day, that’s all. Nothing else. You’ve been awfully busy lately and –‘

Eunwoo visibly relaxes, ‘Thank you, Hyuk.’

‘It’s ok. Only if you want to.’

He balls his palms into fists, fingernails digging painfully into the flesh of his palms.

It’s almost like waiting for a death sentence.

After another beat of silence, Eunwoo chuckles and leans closer, smiling.

‘Well then?’

‘What?’

‘Am I gonna get that kiss or not?’

Pretty sure he is blushing like a tomato, Minhyuk presses a kiss against Eunwoo’s cheek, the skin under his lips supple and smooth and smelling so good his eyes almost water.

‘Good luck today, huyng.’

Eunwoo’s eyes crease in a smile, the real one, the one when he is genuinely happy, not just obligingly beaming in front of a camera.

‘Thank you.’

The door closes with a soft click.

Minhyuk stares at the white glossy paint, feeling breathless.

He has kissed Eunwoo.

And will have a date with him tomorrow.

Dinner with Eunwoo.

…………………………..

‘Hi!’

The door flies open and Bin and Sanha pour in, like an excitable, loud avalanche, shaking them all from their apathy at the end of the day.

The door awakens with frantic activity, shouting voices and laughter; Jinjin jumps up and immediately attacks them with offers of food, MJ quizzes Sanha on his latest stage outfit - and Eunwoo simply leans against the wall and waits, a patient, shy smile on his face, until Bin notices him.

It’s like watching the sun, thinks Minhyuk. Like watching the sun breaking through the clouds.

‘Min!’

The name is a stabbing reminder that although Cha Eunwoo is Cha Eunwoo, their beloved teammate and friend, Bin owns a part of him that’s _Dongmin_ , the part where Eunwoo is just himself and not his stage persona – the deepest, most private part of him that no one but Bin has access to.

‘Min!’ Bin disentangles himself from the clutches of Jinjin and MJ and crosses the room in three hurried strides. ‘Min!’

Eunwoo leans back a little and eyes Bin up and down with a heavy gaze. ‘Hello, Mr Hot Leather Pants.’

If Minhyuk didn’t know how, while on stage, Bin can turn on megawatts of charisma on cue, he would never guess that this sweet-looking, blushing boy is the same person.

With an embarrassed giggle, Bin lets himself being pulled closer. ‘But I wasn’t wearing leather pants today.’

‘Oh, I know,’ Eunwoo noses at Bin’s hair and Minhyuk’s belly tightens at the sound of his deep voice. ‘I liked the harness even more.’

Minhyuk knows that he should probably stop looking now but it’s like being pulled by a magnet; the sight of Bin going pliant in Eunwoo’s arms, the greediness of their kiss, the way their bodies melt together, Bin’s hurried whispers between their gasps - I’ve missed you, Min, I’ve missed so much - as if nothing else existed, as if nobody around them mattered.

‘Yah!’ MJ’s scream cuts through air like a military siren. ‘Get a room, you two!’

They pull apart, laughing a little, then Bin grabs Eunwoo by his hand and starts pulling him towards the bedroom.

‘Wait!’ Jinjin emerges from the kitchen. ‘Binnie! You need to eat something!’

Bin almost trips over his own feet in the hurry to drag Eunwoo inside and shut the door. ‘It’s ok! I’m not hungry!’

The low rumble of Eunwoo’s laugh cuts through Minhyuk’s heart. He turns away and heads for the kitchen.

‘Come, hyung,’ he slaps Jinjin’s shoulder. ‘I’ll help you to get the food. Binnie can join us later. I want to eat quickly because after dinner am playing KartRider with Sanha. He promised he would when they come back. I have a good feeling – I think I will kick his ass tonight.’

Sanha didn’t promise him anything, merely mumbled that maybe he will play with him tonight, but Minhyuk is past caring. He desperately needs something to take his mind off the mental image of Eunwoo and Bin in his head.

‘You won’t beat Sanha,’ Jinjin grins back. ‘But you can try.’

Only when they are all in the living room, crowded around the coffee table, chopsticks in hands, it occurs to Minhyuk that maybe he should have persuaded the others to eat in the kitchen.

That way, the wouldn’t be able to hear the faint echo of Eunwoo’s groans, the creaking of their bed –

‘You ok, Hyuk?’ Sanha leans over. ‘Are you still ready to get your ass beaten?’

He blinks, forcing himself to focus. ‘Don’t be too cocky. I might win this time.’

Sanha stifles a laugh and elbows him playfully in the ribs.

After dinner they play and, of course, Minhyuk loses. It was inevitable. But Sanha’s company lifts the suffocating feeling in his chest and when he finally goes to bed, he is smiling again.

Tomorrow he is having dinner with _Dongmin._


End file.
